Danika felt the den’s eyes on her, and she ignored them, knowing that her future was not in their hands any longer. Her life was with Jes and Chance, and there was no alternative.
Mato kicked at Jes, who blocked his leg with his arms, and then Mato spun and nailed Jes in the side of the head with his other foot. As Mato rolled onto the ground and jumped to his feet, Jes went down to one knee and Danika’s heart leapt into her throat. He rose to his feet with a snarl and snagged the back of Mato’s neck, shoving his face down into his knee with a sickening crack. Mato grunted, looking dazed. Jes kicked out with one leg and swept Mato off his feet. He hit the ground so hard that she was positive she felt the earth shake from the impact. In a heartbeat, Jes was on Mato, one arm wrapped around his neck with the other pulling his arm behind his back. Mato roared in rage, his face red with blood. He jerked and tried to get out of Jes’ hold, but he could not get free.
She saw Jes’ arm tighten and Mato’s face slowly turned crimson. Jes’ face was a mask of concentration, his eyes glittering with determination and his lips pulled back over his teeth in a silent snarl. Mato struggled for several moments longer and then finally succumbed to unconsciousness. Jes eased his hold and rose to his feet.
Looking pointedly at Kajika, Jes said, “I have defeated your male. He has no claim to Danika, now and forever.”
The nest and pride members cheered, and her heart slammed in her chest. Jes had won! Her mate had defeated a male who had a reputation for being unbeatable.
Adriel stepped forward and grasped Jes’ hand and lifted it high. “I declare Prince Jesuit Denali the winner. The female Danika is his by right from this day forward.”
Kajika was furious. He motioned with his hands, and two bears shot forward and lifted Mato, carrying him back to the den members where Cree dropped to her knees with a sob. Danika didn’t feel sorry for any of them. If they had been reasonable instead of so wound up in shifter pride, none of this would have happened.
Jes looked over his shoulder at her, and she raced to his side, grasping his hand tightly. Blood streaked his face from a cut above his eye and a split lip, and he had two black eyes. The tears she had held back spilled over, and she whispered with a thick voice, “Thank you.”
Jes nodded, groaning as he pulled her against his side. “You’re ours forever, little bird.”
Chance joined them and stroked her back. “Thank you for fighting for our mate, Jes.”
Jes grinned and blood dripped down his chin. “You would have done the same.”
A snort of disgust made Danika’s head snap to the side. She found herself staring at Cree and Kajika who looked as though they were witnessing something horrifying.
“You would shame your mother by choosing to debase yourself to two unworthy males?” Cree sneered. Danika was stunned. And then she was pissed.
“They are not unworthy. They are mine!” She snarled and her fangs and claws elongated.
“You’re an abomination!” Cree screeched, pointing her finger at Danika.
Danika growled and the sound was dark and low. “I am no abomination. I am the prophesied mate of the falcon Prince and mother to a new generation of shifters.” She bit into her palm and turned her hand over so that blood dripped on the dirt. “I leave the protection of your den, King Kajika.” She wiped her palm across Jes’ arm and then Chance’s. “I bind myself to my mates forever and ever.”
Cree reeled back as if Danika had struck her. Kajika bared his teeth, and Adriel stepped between them. “The fight was fair and your son lost. Do not disgrace yourself and your den by trying to mar what happened here tonight. Prince Jesuit fought for Danika and won. Go tend to your son.”
Kajika looked as if he might say something else, but Cree grabbed his arm. “There is nothing here for us but ghosts, my mate.”
With a signal from Kajika, the den turned and left. Danika sagged against Chance, gripping both his and Jes’ hands.
Jes asked, “Did this cause a rift between yourself and Kajika’s den?”
Adriel shrugged. “I don’t know. Kajika is hardheaded. But the alliance with the nest and pride are more important to me than an alliance with a den that is not from this area. Whatever comes, we will handle it.”
“We need to get you home,” she said to Jes and he nodded. She thanked Adriel and his mate and the other bears who had been on hand in case the events turned ugly. The nest and pride had come in several vehicles, and she and her mates got into an SUV driven by Pyre. Tonik sat in the passenger seat. The two males talked quietly, but Danika didn’t care what their conversation was about, she only cared about getting home and taking care of Jes.
“I’m fine, little bird,” Jes said.
“I know, but you’re still injured.”
“You’re worth every drop of blood that was shed.”
Her heart melted. She was falling hard for her mates. And no wonder. They were everything she’d ever imagined when she pictured herself mated, except there were two of them.
Jes healed quickly thanks to his falcon nature, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t in pain. By the time they reached the house and she stripped him of his clothes and put him to bed, the cuts on his face had mostly healed and the bruising around his eyes had faded. She asked him if he would shift and heal his injuries quicker, because they healed even faster in shifted form, but he said that he wanted his wounds to heal naturally because they were badges of honor.
With a damp cloth, she cleaned the blood from his face and kissed his lips gently. “You’re my mate, Jes.”
He smiled. “You’re mine, Danika. Mine to protect.” He glanced over her shoulder to where Chance sat on the edge of the bed. “Mine to share.”
His eyes heated and she laughed, rolling her eyes. “You’re still injured.”
“I’m not that injured.”
He rolled her over with a wicked smile and then grunted as his torso twisted. Before she could protest that he was too injured to make love, his lips landed on hers and Chance began to tug off her shoes and all her protests fled. Tossing the cloth off the bed, she wrapped her arms around Jes’ neck. Who was she to say no if Jes and Chance wanted to make love to her?
As she was stripped of her clothes and her body set on fire with tender touches and searing kisses, she sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward to whoever had watched over her mate as he fought for her and their future.
Chapter 10
Chance straightened from where he’d been nailing a piece of trim for the newly installed hardwood floor in the home that his dad was going to live in. It had been a week since Jes had fought and won the right to mate Danika. After spending a day celebrating, life had returned to normal. Jes spent his days in the office either dealing with nest issues or company business, and Chance had started on the remodeling efforts for the pride’s new homes in a small cul-de-sac along the east side of their territory. The nest seemed to be growing accustomed to the pride’s appearance, and after knowing that Jes had fought for Danika – that she was important enough to him to be willing to die – they were accepting her as his mate and grudgingly accepting Chance as well.
Danika seemed very fond of the garden, and after Chance and Jes had encouraged her, she had taken to tending it. Although they were not officially mated yet, all of the members of the nest called her Miss, and the older falcons who normally tended the garden seemed happy to have someone take over. When Chance had seen her at lunch, she had been smiling and scrubbing the marble altar with a brush. He’d never seen anyone look so happy to be doing manual labor. But like him, Danika just wanted to figure out where she belonged in their new home.
A shadow slipped over him and he looked up, purring when he saw Danika.
“Hi,” she said as she bent and kissed him.
“Come to keep me company?” He pulled her down into his lap, and she gave a little girly squeal and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Nuzzling under his chin, she said, “I was wondering if you would watch me sh
ift. Jes is on a conference call working out a new deal on supplies for the store, and I don’t want to wait.”
Danika had been practicing using her wings while Jes watched over her. Although a shifter as well, Chance didn’t know anything about flying or making wings work, but he had been watching her attempts and knew she was doing well so far. And he’d never turn down anything she requested.
“Of course, sweetheart.” He kissed her soundly and then put her on her feet and stood, putting his tools away and walking out of the house with her. They walked between two houses and into the grassy area between the cul-de-sac and the stand of trees that separated it from the rest of the community. In spite of the cool afternoon, she wore only a dark green halter top and jeans. The top left her back bare, which he very much enjoyed.
Just above the white wings markings on her back were two scar-like lines where her wings appeared. She turned and faced him, clasping his hands and closing her eyes.
Her hands tightened against his fractionally, and then the wings spread from her back with a soft rustling sound. She shivered from head to toe and sighed, opening her eyes.
“Why do you close your eyes, katja?”
Her brows furrowed. “So I can picture them in my mind.”
“But what if you’re doing something and you need your wings but you can’t close your eyes?”
Her mouth opened in surprise. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Walking a tightrope?”
He chuckled at her surprised expression and rubbed his thumbs on the tops of her hands before letting go and taking a step back. “Using tools like visualization is fine for a while, but you can’t rely on it. You have to be able to use your wings in any and every situation and keeping your eyes open is a good start. Retract them into your back and try again, eyes open.”
“It hurts less when my eyes are shut.”
“No, it doesn’t. You just think it does.”
She huffed a little and pressed her lips into a thin line. He could tell that she wanted to close her eyes as her wings slid into her back again. Her eyes kept lowering slightly, and he would snap his fingers. Her eyes would pop back open and she would glare at him. His little mate was quite the firecracker.
When her wings had receded completely, he stepped around behind her and kissed the marks where her wings had been. She turned her head to look at him and he said, “No distractions. It’s just you and your wings, Danika. Make them appear. Keep your eyes open. I’ll be able to tell if you close them.”
“How?” She laughed.
“Because I’ll know, that’s how,” he said as he tweaked her side with his finger and thumb and listened to her sigh audibly.
“I’m keeping them open, you big old bossy lion.”
He grinned. There was so much to enjoy about his mate. She was sweet and caring, worrying over him and Jes working too much. She loved raunchy British comedies and eighties slasher flicks that made her hide her eyes behind her hands as she laughed and screamed. And when one of the fledglings had cut his thumb on a rose bush, Danika had taken the time to show him how to appreciate the flower without getting injured.
Chance watched her wings flow from her back and unfold, spreading wide.
She turned, grinning, and leaned into his arms for a hug. “That hardly hurt at all. How did you know it was all in my head?”
“Because I know that it’s hard to get over that first shifting trauma, and you went through something that most shifters don’t because your body did two different things. Have you tried to make your claws and fangs come out?”
Nodding, she grinned. Her fangs elongated easily, and he felt claws digging into his shoulders, just hard enough to point out that they were there, not hard enough to break the skin.
She took a step back and said, “It’s easier to do the fangs and claws. And more menacing.” For effect, she snarled, baring her fangs, and held up her hands so her fingers were curved, the delicate claws glinting in the sunshine.
He chuckled. “Wings aren’t menacing?”
Peeking over her shoulder, she looked at one wing. “They’re white. The falcons keep calling me an angel. One of the widows who was tending the garden with me called me her angel Queen. Besides, if I were walking in a dark alley and came upon two characters and one of them was a big bird and the other was a white lion, I think I’d be more scared of the lion.” She grinned mischievously and he laughed.
“Maybe, if the shifter was a complete bird, but I think most people would find a human with wings to be very unsettling, especially Jes or one of his warriors with those big ass swords they haul around.”
“True.” She clicked her claws together in thought and licked the edge of her fang. He didn’t think she did it on purpose, but it made his cat rumble in approval and the sound spilled from his mouth.
Her eyes darkened. “You like the claws and fangs?”
“I like everything about you, katja.”
She stepped closer until her breasts pressed against him, tilting her face up. Her wings shifted forward until they were like walls on either side of them, almost cocooning them inside a feathery room.
“I like everything about you, too, Chance. In fact, I think I’m falling in love with you.”
He slipped his hands around her waist and drew her even closer. Her fangs receded, but he felt her claws digging into his shoulders and relished the feeling. “I’m right there with you, sweetheart.”
He kissed her, pressing his mouth to hers and growling in approval when their tongues met. He nipped her bottom lip and broke the kiss. This was new and strange for him. He’d never been in a long-term relationship or had a woman come to him for support. And he’d definitely never had serious feelings for anyone. When he looked at Danika, he saw his future in her pretty eyes. He liked that his mate was the first woman he was experiencing everything with.
“We can play later, Danika. You’re supposed to be practicing using your wings.”
“Spoilsport,” she smiled.
He watched her wings move up and down and he stepped far enough away so that she didn’t bump into him. With some effort, her feet left the ground, but she seemed to suddenly realize what was happening and crumpled to the ground.
“Damn it,” she groused, standing and brushing off her knees. Although it warred with him, he didn’t rush to her side. She needed to find out what her abilities were on her own. Like Jes, Chance was only giving her advice and offering assistance if she really got into trouble.
When he asked her what was making her lose her concentration, she admitted that she was afraid they wouldn’t hold her when she went higher, and he could understand that. When he first began to hunt, he had been afraid that his claws and fangs wouldn’t work right and he’d get trampled to death by a deer.
He joined her and reached up to pull her wings forward. “The feathers and the bone structure tell me that you can fly, Danika. You have to trust in your abilities or you’ll never get off the ground. Just because you can’t go to a full bird doesn’t mean that you aren’t meant to fly. And besides,” he stroked down the shaft of both wings, “don’t you want to be able to teach our kids how to use their abilities? Our cubs how to let their fangs and claws come out and the fledglings how to use their wings?”
Her eyes widened, as if she hadn’t considered their kids, and then she nodded and stepped back, spreading her wings. “You’ll catch me, though, if I do fall?”
“I promise.”
Her wings flapped, rustling the dry grass under their feet. Her face was a mask of concentration as she looked to the sky, her wings moved faster and faster. Sweat broke out on her skin, the sunlight making it look like she was covered in diamonds.
First one foot left the ground. Then two. She glanced down and faltered slightly but righted herself and pushed forward and up, catching a breeze and lifting into the air. He could see the exhilaration on her face as she began to move around, drifting from air current to air current, her blonde hair whipping be
hind her and her wings making her indeed look like an angel.
She soared above him in a lazy circle before moving towards the trees. She was looking around, a broad smile on her face, but then she sneezed and lost her concentration. Her body flailed, pitching wildly, and her wings flapped, but she seemed to be falling. He raced towards her as she fell towards the trees, but she managed to catch herself on a branch and stop her descent.
“You okay, baby?” he called up to her as she hefted herself onto a branch about ten feet above the ground.
She made a face. “I can’t believe I sneezed!”
“Are you allergic to clouds?” he teased. “You were very high.”
“I don’t think so,” she said with a laugh. “I’m lucky I didn’t crash land.”
“I would have caught you, katja.”
Her silly smile turned sincere. “I know you would have. I trust you.”
Before he could offer her tips on how to climb down a tree, she leapt off the branch she was crouching on and flapped her wings a few times to slow her body before landing on the balls of her feet.
“Look at you,” he laughed. “You did that without even thinking, didn’t you?”
Her head cocked to the side in surprise. “I guess I did. That’s pretty sweet.”
She said her shoulders were aching, so they decided to call it a day and headed back to the house in his truck. In the kitchen, they found a tray with sandwiches and potato salad and sat in the garden and ate dinner together. He had enjoyed the one-on-one time with her and sharing in her exploration of her new abilities. He wished that he could fly, too, and share that with her, but he was glad she had come to him for help. While they ate, she asked him about shifting, and he told her that lions were not tied to the full moon the way that wolves were and that they normally shifted on the new moon each month. Most shifter groups had their own times of the month for their moon-related activities. For the wolves, it was the full moon. For the falcons, it was the three-quarters moon when they held their important ceremonies and shifted to hunt. And for the white-lions, it was the new moon.
A Promise on White Wings (Wiccan-Were-Bear) Page 7